"From Africa to New York, Brazil to the Texas Hill Country, Sarah Brooke Lyons strives to capture the essence of people and culture through photography. A Texas native with roots in the city of San Antonio, her aesthetic style is most evident when immersed within a subculture or engaged with a subject, allowing her to present an uncommon perspective of their story. Sarah’s desire is to continue her focus on finding the allure in every moment and with every person through her faith in God, entrepreneurial drive, and artistic spirit." You can find out more about Sarah and his work by visiting her portfolio websiteand 1005 Faces Facebook page.

Mary Ellen Mark has achieved worldwide visibility through her numerous
books, exhibitions and editorial magazine work. She has published photo-essays
and portraits in such publications as LIFE, New York Times Magazine, The New
Yorker, Rolling Stone, and Vanity Fair. For over four decades, she has traveled
extensively to make pictures that reflect a high degree of humanism. Today, she
is recognized as one of our most respected and influential photographers. Her
images of our world's diverse cultures have become landmarks in the field of
documentary photography. Her portrayals of Mother Teresa, Indian circuses, and
brothels in Bombay were the product of many years of work in India. A photo
essay on runaway children in Seattle became the basis of the academy award
nominated film STREETWISE, directed and photographed by her husband, Martin
Bell. You can discover more about her and her work by visiting her website.

After a short-lived tenure as a junior high school teacher and coach, then a flirtation with filmmaking, Will Jacks finally settled in on a career as a photographer. Eager to get started, he left Journalism graduate school in 1996, even though he was only a few hours shy of receiving his degree. His business has grown to serve a diverse clientele of commercial and editorial clients throughout the southeast, and his personal work is represented in several galleries in the region. In addition, his documentary work of the Mississippi Delta is a prominent part of the Viking Range permanent archives.

Will is also active in the photographic and arts communities, serving as a past executive board member for the Delta Arts Alliance, a governor-appointed board member of the Mississippi Blues Commission, and as a judge for the ShootQ Grant, among others. He also owns and operates a small photography gallery focusing on imagery from the Mississippi Delta, and just this spring has re-enrolled at the University of Mississippi in order to finally complete his Master’s Degree.

He and his wife Jamie, as well as their two pound puppies, Sam and Homer, live part-time in the Mississippi Delta and part-time in the French Quarter of New Orleans. You can learn more about Will and his work by visiting his website.

is an Akron native who has lived in Nashville, Taos and most recently Manhattan. When his wife of 5 months was diagnosed with breast cancer Angelo found that the most effective way to communicate and share their daily challenges was with his camera. The resulting body of work was first exhibited in Cleveland, OH, and has since been shown in New York City, Brooklyn, Rome and Washington DC.

Angelo’s photographs have been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, The USA Today and La Repubblica. Online features include The Huffington Post, The New Yorker’s PhotoBooth, CNN.com’s Photo Blog and EverydayHealth.com. You can discover the work from this very personal project by visiting his websiteor on Facebook.

Matt Blum (lead photographer) and Katy Kessler (editor/art director), 31, live and work in Minneapolis, MN. Matt started the Nu Project in 2005, and Katy became the project editor in 2009. To date, it includes 150 women from North and South America. This fall, they will travel to Spain and Portugal to photograph more volunteers in their homes. To participate, sign up at http://thenuproject.com/participate. To find out more about Matt + Katy's work please visit http://www.mattblum.com.

Robert Larson is a freelance photographer and writer living in Los Angeles. He is working on a long-term project entitled, Waiting for Haiti. In this self-assigned photo project, he is documenting the continuing impact of the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

In his blog, he writes about the stories behind the images in his project as well as speaking frankly about the challenges, he's faced trying to start a career as a photographer. You can discover more about Robert and his work by visiting his portfolio website and the Waiting for Haiti website. You can also discover more by visiting his blog.

Jacquelyn Martin (b. 1979) is a staff photojournalist with the
Associated Press, Washington DC bureau, where she covers a diverse
range of topics from the President and Congress to the National
Spelling Bee and the occupy movement. Fluent in Spanish, she has a
passion for covering immigration issues. Born in Syracuse, NY, she
graduated with honors in 2001 from the Rochester Institute of
Technology.

Her work has been honored with awards from the White
House News Photographer’s Association, NPPA, and the Women
Photojournalists of Washington (WPOW). She has served WPOW, a
non-profit that educates the public about the work of female
photojournalists, as both secretary and vice president. When not on
assignment for the AP she can be found around the world working on
personal projects, or salsa dancing.

Jacquelyn’s work can be seen via
twitter @jacquelyn_m and on her website.

Mathieu Young is a commercial photographer as well as a socially conscious photojournalist whose work has taken him all over the world. His entertainment work includes production images for such popular programs such as So You Think You Can Dance? and Glee. His journalistic and personal projects have focused on deforestation in Cambodia as well image capturing the personalities that make up the Tea Party Movement. His work has been published in numerous newspapers and magazines. He is a good example of a photographer who uses the funds earned by his commercial work to help fund his personal projects, which not only satisfy his desire to make a difference with a camera, but at times can also earn him greater professional opportunities. You can discover more about him and his work by visiting his website and blog.

Rick Nahmias is a photographer, writer and visual storyteller whose work has been shown across North America, Europe, and Asia. He creates social-issue themed media projects for foundations, non-profits, corporations and cause-driven organizations. He also shoots freelance assignments with an emphasis on editorial, travel, medical and food subjects.

He is best known for documenting the lives and struggles of numerous marginalized communities. "Golden States of Grace: Prayers of the Disinherited," his traveling photographic, text and audio exhibit which documents eleven marginalized communities at prayer was recently published by University of New Mexico Press. His acclaimed body of work exploring California's agricultural workforce "The Migrant Project: Contemporary California Farm Workers" was published in 2008. Its companion exhibition has toured to over three dozen museums, universities, and cultural centers across the country. You can discover more about him and his work by visiting his website.

I had the opportunity to be interviewed by Better Photo's Jim Miotke recently and I wanted to share the conversation with you. You can find the interview by clicking on the link below. I hope that you find it interesting.

Ed Morris was attending Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara when he developed the concept for Mayor’s Across America, his insightful look into the heart of American people through the eyes of it’s most visible civic leaders. He completed his second cross-country odyssey on two wheels in the summer of 2000 and has spent the ensuing years developing the book further, as well as establishing his photography career. Now, with his firm Ed Morris Photography, Ed is recognized as one of Southern California’s most up-and-coming commercial photographers. You can discover more about his project here and see his other commercial work by visiting his website.